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I must have missed where "defunding education" was passed in the house, approved by the senate, and signed by the Whitehouse.

It's the Republican agenda and clearly stated as such. No one has passed a budget. I completely agree that you can't exclude intangibles like culture. Where I live, we don't get too few results for spending too much because last I checked, we spend 49th/50 states per student on education.

Money is not the issue, which Vermont proves. One issue is what's going on in the home before day one of school. The success of Head Start preschool has been variably attributed to many things. One of the most compelling is that poor kids are fed breakfast and lunch. They're healthier when they get into elementary schools.

Schools are a garnish on the budget plate - it's red herring argument to target education if we are serious about balancing budgets. The meat and potatoes are defense, Medicare, and Social Security.

Must disagree about drug addiction. My state's meager support to subsidize substance abuse treatment ends completely in June. Putting more people who provide that treatment in social service agencies on unemployment.

And on the homeless. 70-90% of US homeless are chronically mentally ill, and funding for them has been cut for decades to where mental health treatment in many counties is nothing more than a single building with a few case managers.

As for unicorns, sarcasm isn't a rational argument. It's implying that someone who disagrees with you is silly, which is ad hominem. I enjoy a lively public policy discussion. If I want a silly conversation, I'll go to Animal House.